Improvement in fire-arms



J. L. SWAN.

Breech-Loading Fire-Arm.

No. 34,911 I Patented Apr. 8, 1862.

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JEFFERSON L. SWAN, OF LOWVILLE, NEW YORK.

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Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. gllfibfill, dated April 8, 1862.

it; aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JEFFERSON L. SWAN, of Lowville, in the county of Lewis and State of New York, have invented, made, and applied to use a certain new and useful Improve ment in Fire-Arms; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of my said invention, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making part of this specification, wherein-- Figure l is a longitudinal section of my fire arm as ready for use, and Fig. 2 is a section of the cartridgechamber separately.

Similar marks of reference denote the same parts.

The nature of my said invention consists in the combination of a barrel and movable breech with a socket on the stock adapted to contain the said breech and the rear part of the barrel. By this arrangement of devices the barrel and breech can be easily disconnected for transportation, and when in use the loading is efi'ected by disconnecting said barrel from the stock and introducing a loaded breech, and the firing is caused by a piercinginstrument entering a percussion-cap that is intro duced in a conical hole at the rear end of said chamber, and the powder itself coming into the cap prevents the fulminating material being carried away bodily by the piercinginstrument, and insures an explosion by reason of the fulminating-powder being compressed by the tapering sides of the piercing-instrument.

In the drawings, a is a metallic socket receiving the rear end of the barrel 1). This socket a is extended, as at a, to the rear, and receives the parts of the lock, and also connects with the stock a of the gun. This stock 0 may be adapted to take against the shoulder, or may be only a handle, as represented by dotted lines, so as to shorten the piece and make it more like a pistol. The barrel bis inserted in the socket a, and remains therein by friction; or a latch may be provided to retain the barrel when forced into the socket a.

(Z is the mainspring.

e is the bow-lever on the center 1, for compressing the mainspring.

f is the trigger on 2, and 3 is the triggerspring, and 4 4 are notches in e and f, which take each other when the piece is cocked.

g is the piercing hammer or slide with the chisel or point 5 at one end, which, being rapidly and forcibly driven into the cap 6 while in the conical hole at the rear end of the barrel, penetrates and splits the same and explodes the detonating material.

In order to load my gun, I make use of the chamber h, fitting the rear end of the barrel, as seenin Fig. 1, and I have found practically that chambers of this character, when introduced at the rear end of the barrel, and then the barrel itself entered in the socket a, the barrel will not be forced forward by the explosion, but will, in consequence of inertia and the recoil of the chamber itself being taken by the rear of the socket, remain in its place, properly containing the chamber 71.. However, when preferred, a short screw-thread may be provided, as at 7, to keep the chamber and barrel together when not in use as well as when being fired.

The barrel 1) may be either rifled or smooth, and when one charge is-fired the barrel and chamber are withdrawn and a loaded chamber, 72, substituted and again inserted in the socket (c.

lVhat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isi The breech h and barrel I), fitted as specified, in combination with the socket a, receiving the parts, as set forth, when the explosion is effected by a piereinghammer, 5, entering the detonating-cap in the conical hole 6 of said breech h, substantially as set forth.

As witness my signature this 29th day of July, 1861.

JEFFERSON L. SWAN.

lVitnesses:

LEMUEL W. SERRELL, Tnos. GEO. HAROLD. 

